nature

it has been hard to put up pictures of us romping through the forest or brag about the beautiful weather in chilliwack with the spectre of the earthquake in haiti in the background. what can i say that matters much when so many died, so many lost so much, and the road ahead is still long and fraught with danger.

a spontaneous international congress, the 'friends of haiti', met in montreal yesterday to discuss the best way to organize the priorities and practicalities of aid in the next years. some have called for an economic and political restructuring to go along with the rebuilding of infrastructure, demanding a marshall plan for the new millenium. i agree that some forethought is certainly needed. however we must not tinker with another country's economy without looking at our motives for doing so.

naomi klein's 2007 book "the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism", discusses the degree to which natural disasters and war are used as an excuse to engineer developing countries' laws to facilitate the entry of multinational corporations and financial organizations with the intent of burning through the country's environmental capital to fuel continued western excess. i haven't read the whole book, but kylie has, so this blog is still able to claim some credibility on this topic.

there's some smart, well informed people making these decisions but there is also a lot of $$ being thrown around, so let's hope we do this right.

with that sincere regret and hope out of the way, we can get on to the important business of mkginbc: showcasing the exquisite surrounds and climate of chilliwack bc.

last week we climbed the steep rocky trail to lindeman lake with chad, ang, maddie and adriel.





we have also taken advantage of the early spring to walk the cultus lake trails that are empty in the 'winter'.


finally i have to recommend the movie kylie and i just watched:
"Anvil - The Story of Anvil" is a hilarious and poignant documentary about an aging toronto thrash metal band with more heart and optimism than business acumen. happy and sad and quirkily funny, plus a cameo by shirley, the plastic canadian talk show host that haunted my youth. this movie is right up there with "king of kong" in my favourite movies. don't worry if you don't like metal, if you like people you will like this movie (and maybe buy their album just to encourage these guys). there's some swearing, and one male nude, but the honesty of the characters will win you over.